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UConn defeats Stetson by 39 to open NCAA Tournament play

The No. 1 overall seed handedly defeated No. 16 seed Stetson 91-52 on Friday afternoon.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Playing for the first time in nearly a week, the No. 1 seed UConn Huskies (32-3) showed no signs of rust on Friday, as they dismantled the East Region’s No. 16 seed Stetson Hatters 91-52 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

UConn, March Madness’ top overall seed, raced off to an 8-0 lead and never looked back. Carrying a 52-19 lead into the break, the Huskies set a program record for the largest halftime lead in a NCAA Tournament game in school history.

“That’s exactly how you want to start a game like this, where you’re in March Madness," head coach Dan Hurley said in the postgame press conference. "We took away all hope in that game from them early on with the defense and the offense and the relentlessness; pretty good first performance.”

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The defending national champions were led by 7-2 sophomore center Donovan Clingan, who scored 19 points, shooting nine of 11 from the field. Clingan also secured eight rebounds and dished out four assists.

Clingan gave credit to 2022-2023 teammate Adama Sanogo, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player last year. He said practicing against the former Huskies center prepared him to take the lead this March. 

"It definitely helped me coming into today and coming into this tournament, just realizing that Adama was very dominant last year and led us throughout the tournament. I’m just trying to carry on that role of being as dominant as I can and as impactful as I can; just trying to help my team win," Clingan said in the postgame press conference. 

The Huskies featured a balanced attack, as all five UConn starters scored in double figures. Fifth-year guard Cam Spencer scored 15 points and hit three shots from behind the arc, while fellow fifth-year guard Tristen Newton, an AP First-Team All-American, hit three threes as well en route to scoring 13 points with eight assists.

Newton only took eight shots on the day but that was more than enough. 

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Freshman guard Steph Castle helped spark the UConn attack and finished with 14 points, while sophomore forward Alex Karaban chipped in with 12 points of his own. Freshman forward Jaylin Stewart contributed five points off the bench, including being on the receiving end of a thunderous alley-oop dunk in the first half. 

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UConn shot 9-24 from three-point distance, 52.9% from the field and 75% from the free throw line.

Stetson (22-13) was led by senior guard Stephan Swenson, who scored 20 points, and junior guard Jalen Blackmon, who netted 14 points. Early in the second half, the Hatters used a 18-8 run to cut the deficit to 25 points before UConn rattled off eight of the next 11 points to push the lead back to 30. 

Taking Stetson's run into consideration, Newton addressed where there is room for improvement. He said the Huskies' nine turnovers were too many and pointed out other areas that could be better. 

“(Stetson) shot 20 free throws. We have to guard without fouling. The rebounding was spotty at times. I feel like those are the two areas we have to work on the most," Newton said to reporters after the game.

With the victory, UConn improved to 20-4 all-time in the NCAA Round of 64. After losing his first two NCAA Tournament games with UConn, Hurley has now led the Huskies to seven consecutive wins in March Madness. 

Next up for UConn is No. 9 seed Northwestern on Sunday at the Barclays Center; the time is to be determined. Northwestern outlasted the East Region’s No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic in overtime in Brooklyn prior to UConn and Stetson’s tipoff.

Hurley feels confident that if UConn continues its winning formula, the team can advance to Boston next week.   

“We know what this tournament’s all about. We stay bulletproof by staying elite on offense, elite on defense, a great rebounding team and obviously the preparation," Hurley said. 

Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com

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